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Orgrim Doomhammer
Orgrim Doomhammer, also known as the Backstabber by loyalists of Gul'dan and Blackhand, was the Warchief of the Orcish Horde during the end of the First War and the entirety of the Second War. The orcish capital city, Orgrimmar, is named in his honor. Biography Rise of the Horde Orgrim of the Blackrocks and Durotan of the Frostwolves originally met whilst secreting away as children from the sleeping tent during the Kosh'harg festival in Nagrand. The two troublesome youths escaped past their sleep time to spy on the clans' councils, only to be severely disappointed. Deciding instead to spend the rest of the night challenging each other, they soon formed a bond that, while technically not forbidden, was considered against tradition by the Blackrock and Frostwolf clans they belonged to. During a race through Terokkar Forest, they accidentally stumbled upon a raging ogre, and in a last burst of speed, ran for their lives. Seemingly out of nowhere, a brigade of draenei appeared and rescued the lads, who spent the rest of the day with Restalaan, and conferencing with Velen. The two friends never separated, even after Orgrim, upon the death of his father, became wielder of the Doomhammer and second-in-command to Blackhand, and Durotan became chieftain himself when his father was killed by the gronn. Though Orgrim was internally opposed to the war against the draenei, he followed Blackhand's orders, and even gave in to the blood lust Gul'dan had cultivated. But, like Durotan, he began to wonder if the orcs had been deceived. He was one of the few orcs that didn't drink the blood of Mannoroth, claiming to be unworthy to drink from the same vessel as the Warchief and chieftains. Though Blackhand was gullible enough to believe this excuse, Gul'dan was not, and would remain wary of Orgrim from that point on. Orgrim Doomhammer initially rose to power as a member of the Thunderlord Clan. Blackrock Clan had strong connections to the Thunderlord Clan, though, and for this reason Orgrim was able to rise to power in both. The manual for ''Beyond the Dark Portal also mentions that Orgrim rose to power through the Thunderlord Clan, it is confirmed in the Horde Player's Guide that the two clans had a strong connection. Rise of the Horde does not mention this connection.'' The First and Second Wars Doomhammer was one of Blackhand's most trusted lieutenants, commanding a number of battles against the forces of the Kingdom of Azeroth. But when Gul'dan fell into a coma, trying to pry the secrets from the head of the dying Medivh, Orgrim took this chance to seize power by killing the Warchief, and as many necrolytes and warlocks as he could manage. Doomhammer also captured Garona and tortured her into revealing the location of the Shadow Council, seeking to destroy it because he believed it to be a corrupting influence over the Horde. Unlike Blackhand, Doomhammer would not be a puppet to Gul'dan and his Shadow Council. When Gul'dan awoke, he found that the new Warchief had destroyed the Shadow Council - branding the Warlock caste as traitors and executing many of them - and intended to slay him as well. Begging at Doomhammer's feet, Gul'dan reminded him that with the Shadow Council gone he was the last true sorcerer within the Horde. The warlock promised that he would create an army of all-powerful necromancers, loyal to the Warchief: the Death Knights. Doomhammer readily agreed, despite (correctly) suspecting Gul'dan of treachery. A bitter enemy of the Alliance, Doomhammer was in the front ranks as he led the Horde into Khaz Modan and the Second War. Although he commanded the Horde with an iron fist, Doomhammer also demonstrated his prowess as a diplomat as he made new allies for the Horde among the goblins and trolls of Azeroth. Doomhammer was correct in his assessment of the perfidious Gul'dan; when the Horde was launching a massive attack on Lordaeron, Gul'dan's Stormreaver Clan, along with Cho'gall's Twilight's Hammer, and all others loyal to the warlock, abandoned the Horde and set sail to the south. Chasing him to the Tomb of Sargeras, Orgrim sent part of the Blackrock Clan and the Black Tooth Grin clan to engaged both the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer forces. Gul'dan and his warlocks entered the Tomb of Sargeras but were slain by the demons within. Weakened by losses caused by Gul'dan's treachery, Doomhammer was forced to fall back from the human capital of Lordaeron to his fortress at Blackrock Spire. There he fought the final battle of the Second War against the Alliance of Lordaeron, leading a charge from Blackrock Spire to clash with Anduin Lothar and his paladin guard. Human and orc battled one another in a titanic conflict that left both warriors drained, but the Warchief was able to vanquish the Regent of Azeroth. Some believe that Doomhammer did not win fairly and that Lothar was killed after being ambushed by Horde warriors.Assault on Blackrock Spire Nevertheless, Lothar's death did not have the effect that Doomhammer intended. Rather than being demoralized, the Alliance - led by Lothar's lieutenant, Turalyon - rallied, wiped into a frenzy that even shocked the Warchief himself and all but destroyed Doomhammer's forces, chasing them back to the dark portal. Meeting with Thrall After the defeat at Blackrock Spire, Doomhammer was captured and held as an oddity (his own words) in the palace of King Terenas of Lordaeron. However, Doomhammer was able to escape easily from Lordaeron City and made his way to an internment camp, where he saw what had become of his people. Rather than the bloodthirsty warriors he had led in battle, Doomhammer found only lethargic, wasted souls. Despairing, Doomhammer very nearly fell victim to the lethargy himself, but managed to retain enough of himself to escape from the internment camp. He lived as a hermit in the less-traveled areas of Lordaeron, until one day, he was contacted by Drek'Thar of the Frostwolf Clan. The elder shaman informed Doomhammer that there was a young orc staying with the Frostwolves high in the mountains of Alterac. This orc, discovered to be the long-lost son of Durotan, had escaped after being raised a slave by humans and had begun searching for his people. Durotan's son, Thrall, was determined to find a way to free the captive orcs and restore them to their former glory. Orgrim had heard of this Thrall before from Grom Hellscream, whom Thrall had met before he began searching for his clan. Hellscream had nothing but good things to say about the youth. Intrigued, Doomhammer paid a visit to the Frostwolves to see Thrall for himself, but made it clear beforehand that he didn't want Thrall to know who he was. When Doomhammer arrived nobody referred to him by name or told Thrall about him. When Thrall met Doomhammer that night, he did not realize he was dealing with the former leader of the Horde of whom he had heard so many great things; he only saw a strange orc warming himself by the fire. As the night wore on, Thrall became increasingly annoyed by the secretive deameanor of the stranger, and by his talk of how there was no point in trying to fight the humans. When Thrall insisted that the freedom of the orcs was worth fighting for, the stranger asked him what he was doing hiding in the mountains with the other Frostwolves if he really believed that. Becoming more angry, Thrall argued that he would travel south in the spring to join Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan, that together they would storm the camps and liberate all of the orc prisoners. The stranger scoffed at the notion and contemptuously dismissed Hellscream as a "demon-ridden dreamer." Thrall had heard enough and challenged this stranger, who had repaid the hospitality of the Frostwolves with insults, to single battle. This was precisely what Doomhammer had hoped would happen. He had implied the Frostwolves were cowards and that the orcs as a race could not defeat the humans in order to see whether Thrall would stand up for his clan and people, and Thrall had not disappointed him. Now Doomhammer would see whether Thrall's fighting skill was equally impressive. Liberation of the orcs Losing to the young shaman, and being shown mercy, he revealed himself as the Warchief of the Horde. At first Thrall was aghast at how he had treated such an important person as Orgrim Doomhammer, and began to apologize profusely. Orgrim stopped him and told him it was not necessary, explaining his reasons for staying anonymous. He went on to explain that he had a plan to break free the imprisoned orcs, and Thrall and Drek'thar agreed to help. Along with Hellscream and the Warsong Clan, they were able to easily storm four internment camps freeing the orcs held inside. At the fifth, however, the Alliance was prepared and held a force of mounted knights. They ambushed the orcs, and Orgrim was mortally wounded by a strike to the back — impaled by a charging knight's lance with enough force to pierce the back plate of his armor and his body, denting the breastplate from the inside. With his last breath, Orgrim gave the title of Warchief, along with his great warhammer and black armor, to Thrall. The former internment camp where he fell is now the Horde base of Hammerfall, located in the Arathi Highlands. How ironic that the warrior who killed the Knight Champion of Azeroth would fall at the hands of another knight. Doomhammer's Legacy After the orcs found a land of their own, which they called Durotar after his father, Thrall established the city of Orgrimmar in honor of the venerable Warchief, his mentor and friend. Thrall still wears the black plate and carries the hammer that was synonymous with Orgrim Doomhammer, fulfilling his weapon's ancient prophecy. Doomhammer's name also lives on in the Orgrim's Hammer - a powerful flying warship that serves as the mobile Horde headquarters in Icecrown, the seat of the Lich King, in the frozen wastes of Northrend. Personality Doomhammer is a warrior born, his leadership ability forged in combat. He is unendingly loyal to those who prove their strength and service, but quick to avenge himself on those who attack him or his allies. Among the orcs, his gruff, curt manner is respected, but to others he can seem dismissive and contemptuous. Understanding the value of protecting an army’s leadership, battles often found Doomhammer in a far-off command tent. Yet whenever possible, he is a howling, bloodthirsty presence on the front lines, personally leading his troops to victory. Though he is a towering presence in his black armor, Doomhammer can hide himself completely in as simple a disguise as a tattered cloak in order to move undetected among his enemies. Combat Doomhammer doesn’t hesitate to strike the first blow in combat, usually striking from surprise using one of the Blackhand’s fangs hanging from his belt. Wielding the Doomhammer, he leaps fearlessly into any number of enemies and becomes a whirlwind of destruction. Distrustful of spellcasters but confident in his armor, Doomhammer usually first attempts to kill any wizards among his enemies. On occasion, he will save the strongest among his enemies for last, relishing the chance to hone his martial skill against a worthy opponent. Doomhammer’s Plate This half-plate armor was of course once worn into battle by the mighty Doomhammer. The armor is a black iron and mithril alloy, giving the armor an overall dull black appearance. It is now worn by Thrall. Cultural references There has been some comedic association with Orgrim Doomhammer and the real-life rapper/musician M.C. Hammer. The racial dance of the orcs is that performed by M.C. Hammer in the music video of the song, "You Can't Touch This," and a satirical version of the cover of Hammer's album, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt Them," was submitted to one of Blizzard's fan art contests, with Orgrim depicted on it. Reference list Category:Deceased characters Category:Game characters Category:Lore characters Category:Major characters Category:Orcs